A Thorn and Sufficient Grace

I was listening to ‘Hymns of Heaven’ (the acoustic version), and it made me muse on some of the verses I read this morning. II Cor. 12:7 & 8, talk about Paul having a thorn in the flesh. We don’t know what this ‘thorn’ was, but we do know that he asked God to take it away three times. I don’t know about you, but I have asked God and had conversations with God more than 3 times about certain things!! Haven’t you?? What are our thorns? It could be social media, spending too much time on it, or the TV, or being lazy, eating healthy, exercise, the list could go on and on. One would think a loving God would do take it away!! But God’s reply to Paul is in verse 9 is this, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strenth is made perfect in weakness…”. Notice He didn’t take it away or make it easier. God’s strenght is made perfect in weakness. How else would God prove to us that His grace, His strength is enough?? I don’t know about you, but I would much rather He would just take it away, make it better. Wouldn’t you? But atlas, we can’t grow that way, become stronger, allow God to show Himself to us, become closer to Him. I’ve often wondered what the Kochu household would have looked like if Allen hadn’t gotten sick. I really don’t think I would have had more siblings. God knew we needed Stephen and Beth (Medy). They were a blessing in a time of total disarray in our lives. They were a ray of sunshine in our gloomy days. Why did God take our boys (Allen, Stephen, & Pop)? Didn’t He know how much pain that would cause and what a void it would place in our hearts??? “My grace is sufficient for thee..”. God knows our struggles, hurts, and disappointments. He doesn’t like to see us hurting or sufferring or making bad choices. The ‘goal’ is to grow closer to God, rely on His strenght to see us through. I know it will take me more than ‘three’ times of asking God to help me in certain areas (I’m a little stubborn) but I KNOW, that His grace will carry me through and He will get the glory and honor as I work on things.